Howler - Massive cancellation fees and zero support.

Last year, my wife and I decided to participate in the Ox****** Trail run again. However, we wanted to spread the cost of the multi-day stage race across several payments this time. We opted to use LayUp, as suggested by Howler, the ticketing organization for Ox****** (https://www.howler.co.za/).

Setting up LayUp was surprisingly easy. You pay a deposit and specify an amount to be deducted from your Credit Card every month for a predetermined period on a specific day each month. Everything went smoothly for the first two payments. However, by December, I had not received any communication from LayUp, and I began to worry as I had already paid about R2500.00.

Upon logging into the LayUp website (https://layup.co.za/lay-by/), I discovered that my transaction was canceled, and they were intending to retain R2500 as a cancellation fee. When I raised the issue with LayUp and Howler, I received a brief response stating that the transaction was canceled due to missed payments.

I want to clarify that, to my understanding, I have not missed any payments. Yet, I observed that the funds were not deducted for the latest transactions, unlike the initial two payments. This discrepancy seems to stem from administrative issues within the LayUp system as the payments for the 1st 2 installments were done on random days. There was no communication about missed payments or transactions from either my bank or LayUp or Howler.

Efforts to obtain statements or terms and conditions from LayUp or Howler proved futile, as neither appears to exist, raising significant concerns.

After extensive communication with LayUp, Howler, and Ox******, they refunded R1000.00 but insisted on keeping a R1500 cancellation fee. Their reasoning was that I missed payments, which were taken on the wrong day without any communication, invoice, statement, or indication of a missed payment. On December 12, they claimed the transaction was due to be completed, a date I have no recollection of and no agreement to reference.

According to the Consumer Protection Act 68 of 2008, LayUp and Howler are only allowed to deduct a legally permissible 1% of the full transaction fee as a cancellation fee, amounting to about R30.00 at this point.

The actions taken by LayUp and Howler in attempting to retain the R1500.00 as a cancellation fee are *******. I intend to exercise my consumer rights and share this notice on social media, as well as escalate the matter to the Ombudsman.

I advise caution when dealing with either of these companies.